a Slice of Heaven

We were so fortunate to go to Lake Powell with Mike's bosses and families. They all left early on the 4th, we left after the fireworks which made Mikey drive all night! We went to Wahweap, so we didn't get there until around 5am. We thought we'd have a good hour to sleep before we had to meet up with the rest of our party, but the marina was so crowded, we couldn't find a place to park. After a potty stop and fueling up the boat, it was too late (or early) to sleep. So, we went to Stateline Marina and launched our boat. Then, we waited....it took another hour at least to get the houseboat and other speedboat loaded. That first day is long, but by the time we found a great spot (thanks to Mikey) and got settled, it was only noon! We couldn't believe it...it felt like dinner time!

So, out on the boats we go! Brandon made fast friends with Caden and Jared. Amanda made fast friends with Brynna and Brytin. Actually, all the kids were so nice and fun with our kids. It made it a nice vacation. Brandon did really well with keeping his lifejacket on. He also learned how to take it off, but was a good boy.
Jared, Kai, Brandon, Sydney on the yellow tube. Amanda, Brytin and Brynna on the flat tube. They rode so much they were chaffed on their legs! Break out the bag balm!

The lake was beautiful and we stayed right by Gunsite. The lake rose a foot while we were there. The only storm we had was a quick, thunderburst during the mid-afternoon one day. We hurried and covered the boats (it was really coming down), but we saw the most amazing thing that in all the years we have been to L.P. never experienced. There were waterfalls coming off the big rock...just pouring down and they were so pretty! Then, the rain ceased and so did the waterfalls. I didn't have my camera...my battery was going dead and I hadn't downloaded the memory stick (I wasn't prepared picture-wise at all).

We went to Dangling Rope marina to fuel up one day and our boat vapor-locked. We had to sit at the marina...all 20 of us....waiting on the mechanic for 2 hours....until the boat finally would work again. But, we stocked up on ice cream and a few toys. When we went to Wahweap marina one day, Spencer's boat stopped working!

We decided that the marina's were bad luck and stopped going!

We spent a lot of time TUBING! The kids were crazy about the tubes. I remember going to Lake Powell with our families and everyone would get up early to ski....not with this crew. They sleep in...then we tube! Spencer would take the skiers and wakeboarders out. Mike got to ski once, but he was an awesome tubing driver! Except for the one time he bounced me out of the tube, I did a backflip and must have had some good air because I remember thinking...when am I going to hit the water? It was crazy....but fun.Brandon and kids on the water weinie, being held up by boss, Kevin.
We played a lot of card games and some rummicube. We watched movies at night and also had great food. It was a very fun trip and we are so grateful we got to go this year! One day, Spencer sat across from Amanda and said, 'Amanda, you are a tough girl' I could just see she was embarassed (she reminded me of myself at her age...I knew exactly how she was feeling getting a compliment). Then, he told her that he knew she could wakeboard. He had taught everyone of the kids there how to wakeboard and he knew she could do it. It was a very nice moment to hear him build her up. So, the next day she tried. Cute Braden got in the water with her and tried to help her. Then, when he stopped trying to help - she got up! She was so cute and looked like a pro. Then, all of a sudden...she said cut it. We think she just got nervous because Spencer was turning the boat, but we think she could have gone on forever. We had an unfortunate poop incident with Brandon. He had a mushy diaper one day (hang in there...) and Tyra (boss's wife) was playing with Brandon, tickling and tossing him up and down. Then, she looks at her shorts...and goes, 'what is that?'.....hmmmmm, poop! On her shorts and on the floor of this nice houseboat! I wanted to die....I yelled for Mike to come clean up the floor. I threw a bag of wipes at Tyra and ran with Brandon to change him. I know you can't force them to potty train and I know he is so stubborn about it....but that moment right there made me decide to just put him in underwear and play outside until he's trained. UGH! Needless to say, Tyra didn't really play with him anymore after that.

Everyone had older kids. The youngest of their crews was Brynna who is Amanda's age (9). So, they were getting a kick out of how Sydney and Brandon say their R's. They said it's so cute and we need to get video (our camcorder broke a long time ago...no video at all of Brandon!).

They were telling us you forget how cute it is when your kids are grown. Everyone was quite enamored with these cute kids. It was fun to watch them play together.

The only details I can remember are from coming home! We were worn-out, but not wanting to go home. We loaded up our boat quickly and took off for the marina to get it out of the water (after we helped get the houseboat launched again). Then, we looked for showers! You can buy a 15 minute shower for $2 at the campground store. That always feels so good to wash with fresh water! Then, after a stop for souveniers, we headed to where the houseboat is stored to help. We got there too late to help, but we all caravaned home together. After a really LONG stop at McDonald's in Kanab for lunch...it was northward home.

Since we were getting home fairly early, we decided to stop at Lagoon! Mike's family was there with ICS, so we thought we could stop and say hi and let the kids do rides for a bit. About 10:30pm, I was crashing, so we came home. It was fun....but we were very tired all weekend!

On Saturday, since Brandon is obessed with Wall-E, the movie, we decided we should see it. We headed to Gateway and had lunch at Happy Sumo (YUM!) and went to see the movie.

The kids liked it. I thought it was way too political and long.

Sunday, we were lucky enough to have Steve & Hillary up for dinner with a couple from our ward who they knew from their old ward. The girls are so cute and getting so big!

So, I need a vacation now that we are home. It's hard to come back to reality! I'm sure Mike has had a long, hard day at work after being gone a week. The kids were excited to see their friends and Amanda actually went to Brynna's to play today. Amanda also started tennis this morning and really liked it.

We had a great week. Summer is great. I forget how fun it is to have the kids around, unscheduled, not teaching as much piano and eating outside on the patio. Spending time with family and friends and enjoying life.

It's Darin's birthday today and they are having a party at Echo....we wish we could have gone, but we are fun-ed out. So, it only cost me cookies...for us to miss D's big 3-0 party!